State asking for public comments on the pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac

Mackinac Bridge with swans swimming in the straits, June 2006. MDOT

The state has opened a public comment period on the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.

Earlier this month, the company was ordered to install more supports under the pipeline. Some of the current supports are farther apart than the 75-feet, required by Michigan law.

Scott Rasmusson is with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

“When a project doesn’t meet our minor project criteria, it’s kicked up into a public notice category or an individual permit, and then we put that project on a public notice to the comments on the project to get information that the state may not be aware of on that property of the project.”

A representative from Enbridge says once the state gives approval for work to begin, it will take two-weeks for the improvements to be complete.

The following link will lead to a site open for comments on the Enbridge plan.